As the pressure grows on building owners, grounds managers and landscapers to maintain attractive, healthy green spaces in increasingly challenging conditions, attention is turning beneath the surface. For Croptek Bio, the answer to stronger, more resilient plants starts with healthier soil.
Martin Noble, Director at Croptek Bio, believes there is significant potential for biostimulants across the amenity sector, particularly among housing and commercial property companies responsible for maintaining lawns, sports pitches, flowerbeds, trees and landscaped areas.
“Fertiliser is important, but better and more consistent results can often be achieved by also improving soil health,” he explains.
While conventional fertilisers provide essential nutrients, biostimulants work by encouraging microbial and fungal activity in the soil, helping make nutrients more available to plant roots. The result, when used appropriately, can be healthier growth and improved resilience during periods of drought and environmental stress.
The challenge, Noble suggests, is changing established habits. Grounds managers accustomed to using fertiliser to promote growth and colour may need convincing that soil biology deserves equal attention. Croptek Bio recommends regular applications throughout the growing season, typically every four weeks, to support consistent results.
Research is also central to the company’s ambitions. Its collaboration with Swansea University provides access to specialist scientific expertise, research facilities and independent trials. Together, the partners aim to develop new biological products, refine existing formulations and investigate applications across agriculture and horticulture.
The aim is to turn research into practical solutions that deliver measurable benefits, with potential opportunities in both UK and international markets.
That international outlook is particularly evident in the Middle East, where extreme temperatures, water scarcity, soil salinity and poor fertility present considerable challenges for growers. Working with research partners in the Emirates, Croptek Bio is conducting local field trials to assess how biological products can support root development, nutrient uptake and plant survival under stressful conditions.
For a sector increasingly concerned with sustainability and climate resilience, solutions that help plants cope with less water and reduced reliance on conventional fertilisers could have an important role to play.
Looking five years ahead, Noble sees Croptek Bio evolving beyond the supply of individual biostimulant products towards tailored biological solutions designed around specific crops, environments and challenges.
That could mean improving the performance of a UK sports pitch, helping a commercial landscape withstand a dry summer or supporting agricultural productivity in
an arid climate.
Ultimately, the message is a simple one: successful planting and landscaping depend on more than what is applied to the surface. By putting soil health at the heart of plant care, Croptek Bio hopes to help create greener spaces that are not only attractive today, but better equipped to thrive tomorrow.
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